<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div dir="auto" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Age Old Bravery</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; min-height: 22px;" class=""><br class=""></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I used to be brave.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-indent: 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Now that I’m older</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-indent: 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""> I thought that I’m not anymore.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">But I was wrong.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-indent: 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I’m braver. </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">In the rarity of elderhood</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>my cousin could be robbed of breath</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>for twenty minutes by dinner stuck in his craw</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>and be plugged into life that’s not life</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">because he’s old and has used up his lives.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>And I could lose him.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">My teeth are wearing thin and fragile</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>And I didn’t know that would happen.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">What deeper could be frayed and hanging by a lifeline</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>ready to let go</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>that I don’t know about?</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I could profoundly forget</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>like my mother and now my brother</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>and only know that I belong to something or someone</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>if only I could remember</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>It….Them…..What.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I could be gone</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><b class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></b>just because one piece of me is done </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>and irreplaceable.<span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">I could lose someone else worn thin and brittle.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">And still every morning I take a step into my day</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>kiss my beloveds </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-indent: 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">brew a cup of tea </p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-indent: 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">and sip the unknown.</p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">Braver than ever. </p><div style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-indent: 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class=""> <br class="webkit-block-placeholder"></div><p style="margin: 0px 0px 8px; text-indent: 36px; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;" class="">- Sashana Kane Proctor</p></div></body></html>